Folding fan



P. R. FRANCIS FOLDING FAN Filed Nov. 20, 1950 Jan. 8, 1952 JNVENTOR:Paul WM Francis,

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Patented Jan. 8, 1952 :FOIJDING Paul Raymond Francis, Nashville, Tenn.,assignmto Francis 84 Lusky 00., 1110., Nashville, Tenn., a corporationof Tennessee Application November 20, 1950, Serial Noi 156,651

4'Claims. 1.

My invention relates, to a folding fan of the type having a centralpanel and two laterally swingable panels movable from positionsgenerally behind said centralpanel to positions beside and, in effect,extending the surface thereof.

More specifically my invention relates to immovements, in the grip andfan-opening parts of such, a fan, whereby the fan may be opened by an.easy and natural squeezing of the. grip portion whileitis held naturallyin a users hand.

Objects of invention Accordingly, it is an object of my invention toprovide a foldin fan with an easily and naturally operablesqueeze-to-open grip portion.

It is another object of my invention to provide a four-ply constructionof the grip portion of the fan, in which there will be no extendingoperating tabs to become bent or broken during a fanning operation.

It, is a, further object to provide such a. fan with concaved fingerandthumb-receiving grip contours whereby an efieotive and comfortablesqueeze and/or grip may be applied thereto.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

Detailed description In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of my fan in closed or foldedcondition.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the closed fan.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the fan in opened or expanded condition.

The drawings disclose a preferred form of my invention.

The fan shown comprises a front panel I of roughly inverted bell-shape(Figs. 1 and 3), and a rear panel 2 (Fig. 2) which preferably has thesame size and shape as the front panel I. Optionally and alternatively,however, the back panel 2 may be terminated at the line 3, since theupper portion thereof is dispensable, although a stronger fan and a morepleasing ap-- pearance result when a full-length panel 2 is employed.

Lying between the panels I and 2, are two dif- Ierently shaped panels 5and 6. Except for the tabs 5a and Ba the panels 5 and 6 have the samesize and shape as the panel I for the upper threefourths of theirextent. For the lower onefourth of their extent, however, the panels 5and 6 differ importantly in shape from panels I and 2 and also from eachother, but as to each other they possess bilateral symmetry.

The four panels are. held in super-imposed asrsemblage by two hollowrivets or eyelets I and 8 inserted, through alined, openings in saidpanels. These eyelets 'I and 8 are, respectively, located on or near thevertical axis of symmetry of the panel I at or near the /2 and pointsmeasured V61? tically from. the bottom edge of said panel. The openingsthrough which theeyelet 8 passes, all snugly embrace the tubular portionof the eyelet between the outwardly flanged-over ends thereof. Panels Iand 2 similarly cooperate with the eyelet I. Panels 5 and 6, however,are provided with. arc-shaped openings 5b and 6b of such. extent as topermit their pivoting about eyelet 8 through an angle, which isdisclosed as being ape proximately 45. The ends of the. openings. 51)and 6b. form stops which engage the eyelet I to limit the pivotalmovement of the panels 5 and 5 between their extreme open and closedpositions. of Figs. 3 and 1, respectively. The extended panels. may beprovided on their front faces and/or rear faces with pictorial,advertising or other printed matter, the sections of which match whenopened, as shown in Fig. 3. The back surfaces may contain similar ordissimilar matter, as desired.

The tabs 5a and 6a are conventional structures for grasping between thethumbs. and fingers of the user for opening fans of this general type.In

my fan, however, they may be omitted because of my novel construction ofthe grip portion of the fan, whereby the fan may be opened by asqueezing action applied as the fan is held in a normal gripping manner,without the necessity of assistance from the other hand as was neededfor fans of the prior art.

The lower extremities of the panels I and 2, be ginning at a pointslightly above the eyelet 8, have the general shape of an upwardly andoutwardly flaring flower bowl, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The panels 5and 6 have oppositely displaced extensions 50 and which in the closedcondition of the fan produce opposite notches 5d and lid for convenientgripping between a finger and an opposable part of the thumb or palm.When the squeezing action is exerted against the tabs 50 and 6c they arerotated about the eyelet 8 into the position shown in Fig. 3, forcingpanels 5 and 6 into open-fan positions as in said figure. The panels 5and 6 are so shaped that when they are in opened-fan positions theirlower extremities overlap with each other and with those of panels I and2 to form a stron fourply grip portion in the region indicated by thearrows 9 in Fig. 3. As clearly shown in the drawings, the parts 50 and60 have arc-shaped lower edges subtendin angles about the pivot formedby eyelet 8 equal to the angle of movement of each panel in folding oropening. The natural hand-fitting curvature of the grip portion alsoadds to the users comfort, and the narrow bottom extension will fit evena small childs hand. The squeeze-receiving parts c and 6c are, by theirbeing indented at 5d and 6d, protected against the repeated bending thatwould and does weaken extruding tabs, such as 5a and 611. Also due totheir lyin in guide channels formed by panels I and 2, they would stillbe effective even if softened by long use or by moisture.

My invention is obviously capable of being used with folding-panel fanshaving greatly differing shapes of panels above the grip portion, as forexample with the windowed advertising fan of copending application No.198,119, filed by Virgil W. Francis, Jr., on November 29, 1950, andassigned to the assignee of this application.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. 'A folding fan comprising: a central body portion having parallelfront and rear panels, at least two oppositely laterally swingablepanels movable from a folded-fan position generally behind said frontpanel to an opened-fan position generally beside said front panel,pivot-forming means passing through alined openings in said panels neartheir lower extremities to hold said panels assembled and to form apivot for said swingable panels, the portions of said panels immediatelyadjacent to and below said pivot-forming means constituting the gripportions of said panels, arcuate Openings in said swingable panels,fastening means passing through said arcuate openings and through saidfront and rear panels, whereby said front and rear panels are heldagainst relative movement and said swingable panels are movable aboutsaid pivot-forming means within limits determined by said arcuateopenings, the grip portions of said front and rear panels havingslightly concave downwardly and inwardly sloping lateral edges, and saidlaterally swingable panels having concaved edges sloping downwardly andoutwardly below said pivot means and extending laterally beyond saidfront and rear portions in the grip portions thereof and having theirlaterally opposite edges cut away and of such shape that'when saidconcave edges are squeezed by a hand holding said grip portions, thelower extremities of said four panels 'will be forced into co-extensiveover-lapping relationship as said panels reach opened-fan position.

2. A folding fan according to claim 1 and in which each of said panelshas a bottom edge subtending an angle about said pivot-forming meansequal to that of the movement of each of said laterally swingablepanels, said edges being substantially in end-to-end alinement when thefan is closed, and being substantiallyfully co-extensive when said fanis open.

3. A folding fan according to claim 2 and in which said edges are arcsabout said pivotforming means as a center.

4. A folding fan according to claim 1 and in which said pivot-formingmeans and said fastening means are located along the vertical axis ofsymmetry of said front panel near the onefourth and one-half elevationpoints therealong,

respectively.

PAUL RAYMOND FRANCIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,630,397 Marni May 31, 19272,435,446 Klie Feb. 3, 1948

